Penguins Cure Road Woes: Whip Montreal 4-1

I confess. I really wasn’t sure what to expect from our Penguins when they visited the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre last night.

Would the chaos that reigned supreme in Monday’s wild 8-7 victory over Washington carry over? Would the wheels fall off the wagon, as they had in the Pens’ previous three road games—all defeats?

Thankfully, neither.

Showing a remarkable ability to reset in the face of mounting adversity, the Pens fixed their road woes and authored a crisp 4-1 victory over the home-standing Habs.

It was a consummate road performance. Easily the Pens’ finest since goodness knows when. In prime puck-hunting mode, they harassed the overmatched Montreal defense with a relentless forecheck. Unlike recent efforts, they were equal parts disciplined (one minor penalty) and detailed (20 blocked shots). Best of all, they generated offense from sound defense while limiting Michel Therrien’s crew to 20 shots on goal.

“We had some pretty good structure,” said Pens coach Mike Sullivan. “I thought we did a pretty good job limiting their speed coming through the neutral zone, for the most part. I thought we made pretty good decisions with the puck, forcing them to have to play 200 feet, and I thought we got a pretty good, solid team effort and we got contributions throughout our lineup.”

Montreal stalwart Shea Weber was clearly impressed.

“They’ve just got a lot of speed,” marveled the All-Star defenseman. “They keep coming at you, every line. Their (defense) are joining the rush a lot and making a four-man attack. They obviously played a good game tonight.”

Therrien agreed.

“We played a really good team, the Stanley Cup champions…” said the former Pens skipper.

Unlike so many black-and-gold victories, this one was led from the rear. Or more specifically, the newly formed fourth line. While the big three of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel were held to a lone assist, Chris Kunitz, Eric Fehr and Scott Wilson were outstanding.

Displaying instant chemistry, Kunitz and Wilson crashed the net with abandon, while Fehr was a force down the middle. The big center notched what proved to be the game-winning goal on a wicked shot from the slot at 5:19 of the second period.

Credit goalie Matt Murray, too. Rebounding from a rough night against Washington that saw his goals-against average balloon to 2.53, he returned to Stanley Cup form, stopping 19 shots and gobbling up rebounds with his trademark coolness and efficiency.

In what might have been the defensive play of the game, Murray outraced Alex Galchenyuk to a loose puck to thwart a would-be breakaway. One of the few times all evening that the Pens’ patchwork defense faltered.

Other heroes included defensemen Chad Ruhwedel (4 shots on goal, 3 hits), who logged a surprising 20:18 of ice time, and Olli Maatta, who scored his first goal in 63 games while shouldering a similarly heavy workload.

Rookie forward Jake Guenztel also shone, notching his fourth goal in just seven NHL games on a nifty net-front deflection while dishing out a game-high six hits. Hustling Conor Sheary collected his 11th point in as many games with a third-period assist.

Give Sullivan and the coaching staff a well-deserved nod as well for getting the troops refocused and ready in a short amount of time.

All in all, a command performance.

Bravo, Pens, bravo.

Gaunce Debuts

Cameron Gaunce played his first game in a Penguins uniform since being recalled on Tuesday. Signed as a free agent on July 1, the Sudbury, Ontario native saw 9:19 of ice time and assisted on Guentzel’s goal.

Colorado’s second-round pick in the 2008 Entry Draft, the 26-year defenseman has played in 21 NHL games for the Avalanche, Stars and Pens. In 39 games with the Baby Pens this season, Gaunce collected two goals and six assists to go with 32 penalty minutes. He was a plus-six.